Chaeles a



(No Model.)

0. A. TUCKER.

ELECTRIC LOCK.

' No. 878,121. Patented Jan. 10, 1888.

her, Wuhingtun. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

CHARLES A. TUCKER, OF ISLIP, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE TUCKER ELECTRICALMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,121, dated January.10, 1888.

\ Application filed February 4, 1887. Serial No. 226,538. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the town of Islip, county of Suffolk, and State of NewYorlghave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks Adaptedto be Operated by Electricity; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which formpart of this specification. i

The object of this invention is a lock especially adapted to securedoors in position when open or closed, and operated insuch manner thatthe catch maybereleased by electricity, so that when the door has beenarranged in the desired position, either open or c1osed,the holdingdevice can be operated from a distance, by means of which a door may be.

disposed to open or close automatically when free, and by the use of myinvention may be released to operate according to such disposi tion.

In the drawings I illustrate my invention as applied to a door which isdisposed on an incline to close its opening automatically when free toact, and my lock is applied to it to hold it in position open,so thatwhen t-helock is operated the door will be released and run down theincline to close its opening.

Another feature of my invention is the adjustment of the parts so thatwhen the electric circuit is closed and the lock operated such operationbreaks the circuit again automatically, whereby the battery is only usedduring the moment of operating the lock, thus effectingan importantsaving in battery.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation showing the door closed and mylock in place. Fig. 2 is a front view of the lock with theinclosing-case removed. Fig.3 is an end view of the lock with a portionin section. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the contact-pin n andcircuit-closing portion on the lever Z.

Similar lettersof referenceindicate like parts in all the drawings.

A is a door suspended by suitable hangers on the incline a.

B represents the wall of the room.

b is the case for inclosing thelock, having a suitable slot, b, throughwhich a pin or handle, 0, projects, and may be moved up or down.

The lock consists of a support, C, upon which the operating parts are tobe mounted. This may be of suitable metal to form a path for theelectric current, if desired. The magnets e ar'emounted on this support,and the armaturefis attached to an arm,f, which is pivotally secured tothe plate C. To the lower end of this arm f a tension-spring, g, isattached, which is arranged to draw the ar1nature f away from themagnets, the strength of the spring 9 being regulated by means of theset-screw h, so that it will have power enough only to draw the armatureaway from the magnets when free to act without presenting anyunnecessary resistance to the attracting power of the magnets whenexcited.

To the end of the armaturef a pin or detent, 2', is secured, whichprojects and enters the case 7'. v

j is a case or slideway attached to the base 0, and is open at thebottom to permit the weight It to move easily-up and down within .it,and it is also slotted in its front to allow the pin 0 to move up anddown in the slot. The weight k, which is designed to move freely up anddown in the casej, is made of material of suitable weight; and has theprojecting pin or handle 0 secured to it.

It has a notch or re- I cess out into its side near the top, into whichrecess and supports the weight suspended in position.

Beneath the weight a releasing lever or trigger, l, is pivotally securedon a pin, on, its long arm projecting under the weight k. The scope ofmotion of this lever Z is limited above by the stop it and below by thestop 0. It is held up in position against the stop it bythetension-spring p, which is adjusted to support it in that position.The short arm of the leverZ ICO has an inclined face corresponding tothe in-- clination on the corresponding face of the engaging-plate r onthe bolt d. The bolt d is suitably housed in hearings to guide it in its5 movements. It passes through an arm, g,

which supports it at one end, and through a sleeve, 8, which supports itnear the other end.

The bolt (Z is provided with a fixed plate, r,

secured to it, and a strong spiral spring, t, is

[O placed over the bolt, one end of which spring abuts against the plate1', and the other end abuts against the reduced part of the sleeve 8,

as clearly shown in Fig. 8. \Vhen free to act,

the operation of the springt is to throw the 1 bolt forward from thebase 0, so that it will project beyond the case I), as indicated by thedotted lines in Fig. 3. To receive the impact of the plate 1', anelastic buffer, r, is placed on v the bolt, which interposcs between theinner 2o face of the arm (1 and the plate 1- as the same is thrown backby the force of the spring I? when it is released.

The bottom of the weight It may have a portion cut away in order thatits impact maybe 2 exerted as near as possible to the end of the longarm of the lever Z, and so its greatest power obtained.

The case b is suitably secured to the plate 0 in any convenient manner,and it incloses the whole of the lock, except the handle 0 and the bolt01, and thereby prevents any manipulation of the lock, except to lockthe door in the position desired, and when that has been done the lockcannot again be operated except electrically, so that there is no riskof any one tampering with the lock to disarrange it after it has beenonce set. This is a great advantage in many cases, especially when thelock is used on doors required to be kept in the desired position forimportant reasons, as for ventilating warehouses, 85c.

Vhen the plate 0, upon which the operating parts of the lock aremounted, is of nonconducting material, or when for any other .5 reason Ido not desire to use the plate 0 as a part of the electrical circuit, 1make the electrical path to the binding-posts D D as follows: One of themagnet-wires, a, is carried from the magnet to the insulated stop a, and

30 there the wire terminates, a portion being turned under the stop, asclearly shown in Fig. 4, which underturned part makes contact with thelever Z, the lever Z being most conveniently made of metal, throughwhich the electrical current may pass. To retard oxidation, Iattach alittle platinum plate, 0, to the top of the lever at the meeting-point.The screw or pivot m, which supports the lever Z, being also of metal, awire, a", is carried from itto the binding-postD. The other magnet iselectrically connected to the bindingpost D by the wire a. It will beseen that the portion of the electrical circuit within the lock willthen be from the binding post D,

through the wire a, to the pivot m,- from that, through the long arm ofthe lever and plate 0, to the stop a and wire a, to the magnets, and

from the magnets, by the wire a", to the hind ing-post D, and this pathwill be broken when ever the lever Z and post a are not in contact.

When the plate Ois of suitable material to itself form an electricalpath, the wire a may be carried to the insulated post it, as shown inthe drawings, and the wire a maybe omitted, the path in such instancebeing from the binding-post D, through the plate G, to the pivot m, andthence, through the lever Z, to the post a. In such case, of course, thebinding-post D must be insulated from the plate 0.

In applying my lock to doors, the electrical circuit may be formed inthe usual manner by suitable wires, to it, carried from the bindingpostsD D to the opposite poles of a battery, F; and, if desired, athermostat, as E, or other suitable device, may beinterposed in thecircuit to close the same automatically. So, also, if desired, anindependent circuit-elosingpath may be provided, as by the wires 21."a", and a suitable switch or strap key, as w, by means of which thecircuit may be closed and the lock operated independently of the paththrough the thermostat E.

On the doorA suitablelocking-recesses, yy, are provided to receive thebolt when desired; or the door and bolt may be so adjusted that the boltwill protrude against the edge of the door when open to hold the same inposition open and against the opposite edge of the door when closed tohold the same in position closed.

The operation is as follows: The weight k being supported on the detenti, and the bolt d projected out of the front of case by the action ofthe spring 1, the door A is rolled back until its opening is unclosed.Then the bolt d is pushed inward. \Vhen the incline on the face of theplate 0 strikes the incline on the short arm of the lever Z, it pushesthe lever up against the action of the spring 1) until the plate 1- haspassed under it, when the spring 1) draws up the long arm of the lever Zagain, and thereby pushes the short arm downward against the plate 1'and holds the bolt in position engaged with the door and the door open.\Vhen, now,the circuit is closed through the thermostat E, or throughthe wires a u and switch to, the magnets 0 become excited, attractingthe armature f. This releases the weight 7a, which drops upon the longarm of the lever Z, forcing it down upon the pin 0 and throwing itsother end out of engagement with the plate r. As soon as the plate 1' isreleased,the springt is freed to act and throws the bolt zZ out ofengagement with the door, which, being released, moves down its inclineand closes the opening. As the long arm of the lever Z is forced awayfrom the post a, the circuit is broken there, so that the battery isthen no longer in operation.

It will be seen that a lock so constructed can be very simply andcheaply made, and that magnets ot' comparatively small power may beemployed to operate a very powerful look, as a small weight droppingupon the long arm of IIO the lever Z will be sufficient to operate itand release the engagingpart, even though the bolt-springt be one ofconsiderable power; and so, also, the lock being completely inclosed,there is always a certainty that the door cannot be operated after thelock has been set,

except electrically.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The lock described, consisting of a bolt, 0?, spring 15, to operatethe same, check-plate r, trigger Z, and weight K, iD COlllbillfitiOllwith suitable armature and magnet adapted to operate the same,substantially as'described.

2. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity, a spring-bolt, (1,plate 1', and lever Z, in combination with a weight adapted to bedischarged upon thelever Z, substantially as described.

3. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity, a device, as thelever Z, adapted to engage with the bolt, and a part, as thepost n,presenting a broken electrical-path, in combination with a suitabledevice, as the strip 0, adapted to be operated by the lever Z tocomplete the broken path, substantially as described and shown.

4. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity,a bolt disposed towithdraw its engaging end when free to act, a suitable catch to engagewith some portion of the bolt to retain its engaging end projected, anda device, as the weight is, adapted to be discharged upon said catch byelectricity to upset the same and release the bolt, substantially asdescribed and shown.

5. In a lock adapted to be operated by electricity and provided with aweight. to be discharged upon a releasing device to release the bolt,the case b and support 0, inclosing the working parts, in combinationwith thevhandle c and bolt d, adapted to be operated fromwithouttheinclosing-case to set the lock, substantially as described andshown.

6. A look adapted to be operated by electricity, provided with a case,as b, and support 0, inclosing the operating parts and preventing accessthereto, in combination with a suitable device adapted to set the lookfrom without the case, substantially as described and shown.

" CHARLES A. TUCKER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM TEAHAN, ARTHUR O. MACLAY.

